Arenas, special teams nightmare for 'Dogs

By Michael Southern,Sports Writer

Published: Monday, November 17, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, November 17, 2008 at 12:06 a.m.

TUSCALOOSA | Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom already knew the answer to the questions he faced in the postgame press conference following his team’s 32-7 loss to the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday night.

“We gave up 16 points in the kicking game, and that’s pretty much the ballgame,” Croom admitted. “Sixteen points in the kicking game and that’s it.”

Despite a strong defensive effort in the first half, the Bulldogs could not contain Alabama’s Javier Arenas on punt returns. The Crimson Tide’s elusive playmaker returned six punts for 153 yards, which included an 80-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

In the second quarter, Arenas sparked Alabama’s first touchdown with a 46-yard punt return to the Mississippi State 2-yard line.

When a reporter asked Croom about special strategies for Arenas, Croom replied, “He got the ball.”

Croom reiterated his answer of “he got the ball” two more times on follow-up questions.

After the 46-yard return by Arenas, Alabama scored on a 1-yard sneak by quarterback John Parker Wilson and took a 12-7 lead into halftime.

“Our defense played them very, very strongly,” Croom said. “Something we wanted to try and do is move the football and buy some time to give our defense a chance to rest.”

After the Crimson Tide held Mississippi State on its opening possession of the second half, Arenas struck again, this time with his 80-yard punt return for a touchdown to give Alabama a 19-7 advantage.

“When you give up the points we gave up in the kicking game it just puts a lot of pressure on both units,” Croom said. “That was just critical errors on our part there.”

Mississippi State special teams coach Reed Stringer knew the challenge he faced in preparing for Arenas.

“He’s a great returner,” Stringer said. “We knew that going in, and we had a game plan of trying to kick the ball away from him. For the most part tonight we did.

“We tried to kick it away, and it bounced right to him. He’s a great player and he made a great play. On the second one we didn’t kick the ball where we’re supposed to put it. That’s my fault. I called that. He took it untouched, but that’s what great players do. Their return unit deserves all the credit and he’s a great player.”

Another Mississippi State miscue on special teams led to the Crimson Tide’s first points.

After the Bulldogs went three-and-out on their opening possession of the game, Alabama’s Kareem Jackson blocked a punt by Blake McAdams out of the end zone for a safety.

Following the 80-yard touchdown from Arenas, Alabama added two field goals from Leigh Tiffin and a 1-yard touchdown run by Mark Ingram to pull away and end Mississippi State’s two-game winning streak against the Tide.

“In the first half we did a pretty good job on them,” Mississippi State defensive end Tim Bailey said. “I think we kind of let up a little bit in the second half. Also I think our Achilles’ heel was in the special teams. That determined the outcome of the game.

“I’m quite sure everyone is disappointed, but the one thing this team has is pride. We played our butts off tonight. But we made some critical errors, especially in the special teams. We’ve got to go back to practice next week and try and do the best we can to correct that and get ready for Arkansas.”

<p>TUSCALOOSA | Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom already knew the answer to the questions he faced in the postgame press conference following his team’s 32-7 loss to the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday night.</p><p>We gave up 16 points in the kicking game, and that’s pretty much the ballgame, Croom admitted. Sixteen points in the kicking game and that’s it.</p><p>Despite a strong defensive effort in the first half, the Bulldogs could not contain Alabama’s Javier Arenas on punt returns. The Crimson Tide’s elusive playmaker returned six punts for 153 yards, which included an 80-yard touchdown in the third quarter.</p><p>In the second quarter, Arenas sparked Alabama’s first touchdown with a 46-yard punt return to the Mississippi State 2-yard line.</p><p>When a reporter asked Croom about special strategies for Arenas, Croom replied, He got the ball.</p><p>Croom reiterated his answer of he got the ball two more times on follow-up questions.</p><p>After the 46-yard return by Arenas, Alabama scored on a 1-yard sneak by quarterback John Parker Wilson and took a 12-7 lead into halftime.</p><p>Our defense played them very, very strongly, Croom said. Something we wanted to try and do is move the football and buy some time to give our defense a chance to rest.</p><p>After the Crimson Tide held Mississippi State on its opening possession of the second half, Arenas struck again, this time with his 80-yard punt return for a touchdown to give Alabama a 19-7 advantage.</p><p>When you give up the points we gave up in the kicking game it just puts a lot of pressure on both units, Croom said. That was just critical errors on our part there.</p><p>Mississippi State special teams coach Reed Stringer knew the challenge he faced in preparing for Arenas.</p><p>He’s a great returner, Stringer said. We knew that going in, and we had a game plan of trying to kick the ball away from him. For the most part tonight we did. </p><p>We tried to kick it away, and it bounced right to him. He’s a great player and he made a great play. On the second one we didn’t kick the ball where we’re supposed to put it. That’s my fault. I called that. He took it untouched, but that’s what great players do. Their return unit deserves all the credit and he’s a great player.</p><p>Another Mississippi State miscue on special teams led to the Crimson Tide’s first points.</p><p>After the Bulldogs went three-and-out on their opening possession of the game, Alabama’s Kareem Jackson blocked a punt by Blake McAdams out of the end zone for a safety.</p><p>You can’t give those guys points, Croom said. You can’t give them anything. And that’s what happened.</p><p>Following the 80-yard touchdown from Arenas, Alabama added two field goals from Leigh Tiffin and a 1-yard touchdown run by Mark Ingram to pull away and end Mississippi State’s two-game winning streak against the Tide.</p><p>In the first half we did a pretty good job on them, Mississippi State defensive end Tim Bailey said. I think we kind of let up a little bit in the second half. Also I think our Achilles’ heel was in the special teams. That determined the outcome of the game.</p><p>I’m quite sure everyone is disappointed, but the one thing this team has is pride. We played our butts off tonight. But we made some critical errors, especially in the special teams. We’ve got to go back to practice next week and try and do the best we can to correct that and get ready for Arkansas.</p>